Are Novels the Private Histories of Nations? Quote of the Day (Flaubert via Dinitia Smith)

Many of the quotes of the day on this site have dealt directly or indirectly with the purpose of fiction, nonfiction or poetry. Dinitia Smith suggested one of the many functions of novels when she wrote in a recent review of Sebastian Barry’s The Secret Scripture (Viking, 300 pp., $24.95) in the New York Times:

“Flaubert once wrote that novels are the private histories of nations.”